General News Thread

[urban.spaceman]

People on the left think Labour are on the far right. People on the right think Labour are on the far left. 

 

I'm honestly just tired of the hysteria, the misinformation and the bullshit.
 

It's like we're addicted to chaos. 

[urban.spaceman]

Meanwhile. 

 

[RobHawk]

Politics is ****ed in this country. 

 

There's so much mis-information, a huge lack of rational thinking and no one prepared to accept they wrong. People all have there own agenda and wail like babies if they don't get their way, there's no compromise. Clarkson in the tweet above is a great example of that. 

 

I personally don't think labour have done that badly this year. Biggest disappointment for me were the backtracking on winter fuel allowance and watering down the disability benefit changes. 

 

There's still no easy answer to alot of the issues we face. But even compared to a year ago, it's easier to see my GP and the roads don't feel like I'm in Beirut. 

 

I think on alot of day to day issues there is progress but more time is still needed. Certainly better than the Tories in the 14 years previous.

 

I think starmer has handled trump, Ukraine and Gaza situations well overall and has looked a proper leader in an uncertain world. Still room for improvement and certainly not perfect but prepared to watch this space and see what happens in the next year. 

[Jon the Hat]

18 minutes ago, RobHawk said:

Politics is ****ed in this country. 

 

There's so much mis-information, a huge lack of rational thinking and no one prepared to accept they wrong. People all have there own agenda and wail like babies if they don't get their way, there's no compromise. Clarkson in the tweet above is a great example of that. 

 

I personally don't think labour have done that badly this year. Biggest disappointment for me were the backtracking on winter fuel allowance and watering down the disability benefit changes. 

 

There's still no easy answer to alot of the issues we face. But even compared to a year ago, it's easier to see my GP and the roads don't feel like I'm in Beirut. 

 

I think on alot of day to day issues there is progress but more time is still needed. Certainly better than the Tories in the 14 years previous.

 

I think starmer has handled trump, Ukraine and Gaza situations well overall and has looked a proper leader in an uncertain world. Still room for improvement and certainly not perfect but prepared to watch this space and see what happens in the next year. 

Don't worry, Reform will win the next election in a landslide and change UK politics forever...  They might actually do some policy instead of flip flopping all over the place based on the latest poll data.   Or be a complete diasater.

[The Doctor]

8 hours ago, Muzzy_no7 said:

Is that you speaking generally based off a tiny proportion of data? 😂🤷‍♂️

 

I give up 

as I don't know all 60m people in the UK, obviously it's a tiny proportion of data, however frankly I've had enough experiences and know enough people who've had enough experiences to know that the police aren't interested in protecting people, just property. Hell, there's a reason why a lot of feminists say that rape has been effectively decriminalised in the UK with it's abysmally low conviction rates and it's not because the police are listening to victims and investigating that henious crime

[The Doctor]

6 hours ago, urban.spaceman said:

Meanwhile. 

 

the order of causality really should be taught in schools (although how much that would help when Clarkson is about to do his yearly "I didn't pay attention at school and everything worked out for me" tweet). like climate change leads to changes in microclimate leads to changes in growing zones, leads to adjusted and often reduced harvests, leads to "we should do something about this" and so to we need drastic action to fix the climate and so to net zero.

[Jon the Hat]

6 minutes ago, The Doctor said:

the order of causality really should be taught in schools (although how much that would help when Clarkson is about to do his yearly "I didn't pay attention at school and everything worked out for me" tweet). like climate change leads to changes in microclimate leads to changes in growing zones, leads to adjusted and often reduced harvests, leads to "we should do something about this" and so to we need drastic action to fix the climate and so to net zero.

Ah that Tweet is about making kids who didn't get the results they wanted realise it is not the end of the world, not telling kids they shouldn't pay attention at school.

[Kisnorbo fox]

2 hours ago, RobHawk said:

Politics is ****ed in this country. 

 

There's so much mis-information, a huge lack of rational thinking and no one prepared to accept they wrong. People all have there own agenda and wail like babies if they don't get their way, there's no compromise. Clarkson in the tweet above is a great example of that. 

 

I personally don't think labour have done that badly this year. Biggest disappointment for me were the backtracking on winter fuel allowance and watering down the disability benefit changes. 

 

There's still no easy answer to alot of the issues we face. But even compared to a year ago, it's easier to see my GP and the roads don't feel like I'm in Beirut. 

 

I think on alot of day to day issues there is progress but more time is still needed. Certainly better than the Tories in the 14 years previous.

 

I think starmer has handled trump, Ukraine and Gaza situations well overall and has looked a proper leader in an uncertain world. Still room for improvement and certainly not perfect but prepared to watch this space and see what happens in the next year. 

Glad you think so Kier 👍

[Guest TamworthFoxes]

2 hours ago, RobHawk said:

Politics is ****ed in this country. 

 

There's so much mis-information, a huge lack of rational thinking and no one prepared to accept they wrong. People all have there own agenda and wail like babies if they don't get their way, there's no compromise. Clarkson in the tweet above is a great example of that. 

 

I personally don't think labour have done that badly this year. Biggest disappointment for me were the backtracking on winter fuel allowance and watering down the disability benefit changes. 

 

There's still no easy answer to alot of the issues we face. But even compared to a year ago, it's easier to see my GP and the roads don't feel like I'm in Beirut. 

 

I think on alot of day to day issues there is progress but more time is still needed. Certainly better than the Tories in the 14 years previous.

 

I think starmer has handled trump, Ukraine and Gaza situations well overall and has looked a proper leader in an uncertain world. Still room for improvement and certainly not perfect but prepared to watch this space and see what happens in the next year. 

How do you think he is getting on with smashing the gangs? 🤔

[leicsmac]

8 hours ago, st albans fox said:

If  there are any historians left - i think groups/political leanings  will have their own versions of history and not accept anything else as being true. (Irrespective of the evidence) 
 

 

With the power of digital information flow to help them, that is more possible than ever. 

 

But then, I guess that there's an awful lot that we don't know about history because the historians recording it had their own bias then, too. 

[leicsmac]

8 hours ago, urban.spaceman said:

People on the left think Labour are on the far right. People on the right think Labour are on the far left. 

 

I'm honestly just tired of the hysteria, the misinformation and the bullshit.
 

It's like we're addicted to chaos. 

Tired of what you say here. 

Tired of the short-term self interest.

Tired of the fast-food attitude regarding pretty much any matter. 

Tired of the lack of interest in anything beyond one's line of sight spatially or temporally.

Tired of the cognitive dissonance that drives that and the lie that other humans represent the biggest threat to humans. 

Tired of the tribal mentality that fuels. 

 

But, most of all, really really tired of being cursed with enough knowledge to be pretty much certain of exactly where that road ends. And equally tired of the denial that is helping us lead our species, along with countless others, there in a hurry. 

 

 

[Trav Le Bleu]

2 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

Don't worry, Reform will win the next election in a landslide and change UK politics forever...  They might actually do some policy instead of flip flopping all over the place based on the latest poll data.   Or be a complete diasater.

They'll sort immigration out though.

 

By making sure no one wants to come here.

[Greg2607]

6 minutes ago, TamworthFoxes said:

How do you think he is getting on with smashing the gangs? 🤔

Well he HAS at least got a returns agreement in place.  Brexit was a disaster in many ways, but the main issue being that we lost our right of return. 

 

I'd say that was a positive.   

 

Fixing a country in a year is impossible.  It's probably impossible in 5. 

 

It's doubly hard when anyone at all that is negatively impacted by change wails like there legs are being cut off.  

 

Personally, whilst not even close to perfect (which governments are!!?! ) I think labour are at least trying to fix some of the major issues in the country. 

 

Societies need to have instant gratification doesn't meld well with how long it takes to turn around a country. 

[leicsmac]

6 hours ago, urban.spaceman said:

Meanwhile. 

 

 

43 minutes ago, The Doctor said:

the order of causality really should be taught in schools (although how much that would help when Clarkson is about to do his yearly "I didn't pay attention at school and everything worked out for me" tweet). like climate change leads to changes in microclimate leads to changes in growing zones, leads to adjusted and often reduced harvests, leads to "we should do something about this" and so to we need drastic action to fix the climate and so to net zero.

I'm actually inclined to think that Clarkson is just engaging in some ragebait/engagement farming here, as he's on record as knowing what the problem is and what needs to be done. Being a farmer appears to have opened his eyes somewhat there. 

 

Perhaps that's giving him too much of the benefit of the doubt, though. 

[Jon the Hat]

4 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

 

I'm actually inclined to think that Clarkson is just engaging in some ragebait/engagement farming here, as he's on record as knowing what the problem is and what needs to be done. Being a farmer appears to have opened his eyes somewhat there. 

 

Perhaps that's giving him too much of the benefit of the doubt, though. 

His main point I think is that the govt should be supporting farmers, and allowing a balance between food security and net zero would be a good start.

[leicsmac]

4 minutes ago, Greg2607 said:

Well he HAS at least got a returns agreement in place.  Brexit was a disaster in many ways, but the main issue being that we lost our right of return. 

 

I'd say that was a positive.   

 

Fixing a country in a year is impossible.  It's probably impossible in 5. 

 

It's doubly hard when anyone at all that is negatively impacted by change wails like there legs are being cut off.  

 

Personally, whilst not even close to perfect (which governments are!!?! ) I think labour are at least trying to fix some of the major issues in the country. 

 

Societies need to have instant gratification doesn't meld well with how long it takes to turn around a country. 

I'm trying to put my finger on exactly when such things became so fast-food. The era of widespread instant digital communication, perhaps? 

 

Or perhaps things always were that way and the digital era has just given the sentiment much more power. 

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, Jon the Hat said:

His main point I think is that the govt should be supporting farmers, and allowing a balance between food security and net zero would be a good start.

Net zero carbon emissions is the only way to food security long term, or even medium term. We're seeing just a taste of what more extremes of weather driven by increasing global average temperature can do to food sourcing in the UK. 

[Jon the Hat]

Just now, leicsmac said:

Net zero carbon emissions is the only way to food security long term, or even medium term. We're seeing just a taste of what more extremes of weather driven by increasing global average temperature can do to food sourcing in the UK. 

You may be right of course, but we also have to support farmers on the way there.  Pushing costs on to them which are not reflected in the price the supermarkets and hence consumers pay is not helpful, especially when competing directly against imports from countries without those same costs.  The same applies to animal welfare standards.  An informed customer would pay more, but the mechanisms to inform them are crap.

[leicsmac]

3 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

You may be right of course, but we also have to support farmers on the way there.  Pushing costs on to them which are not reflected in the price the supermarkets and hence consumers pay is not helpful, especially when competing directly against imports from countries without those same costs.  The same applies to animal welfare standards.  An informed customer would pay more, but the mechanisms to inform them are crap.

Farmers are vital and should be supported as needed, I agree. 

 

That includes a multifaceted approach including measures to ensure that the land they're growing/raising stuff on continues to remain in somewhere approaching a condition to do so.

[Jon the Hat]

9 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Farmers are vital and should be supported as needed, I agree. 

 

That includes a multifaceted approach including measures to ensure that the land they're growing/raising stuff on continues to remain in somewhere approaching a condition to do so.

Yes lots of good initiatives in terms of improved land use and care already underway you wouldn't want to stop.

[leicsmac]

14 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

Yes lots of good initiatives in terms of improved land use and care already underway you wouldn't want to stop.

One part of the solution, yes. 

[st albans fox]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

With the power of digital information flow to help them, that is more possible than ever. 

 

But then, I guess that there's an awful lot that we don't know about history because the historians recording it had their own bias then, too. 

that’s a fair point 

But it takes you into the arms of the nutters if you extrapolate it ….

[st albans fox]

So do we build massive infrastructure re pipelines to bring water from the north west to the southeast or do we build huge desalination plants for the southeast and pipe the water a shorter distance ?? 

[Greg2607]

Or maybe we just build a load more reservoirs.... A bit like we should have been over the last 30 years.   There is plenty of water and rainfall in the UK, we just don't store it well. 

[Jon the Hat]

13 minutes ago, Greg2607 said:

Or maybe we just build a load more reservoirs.... A bit like we should have been over the last 30 years.   There is plenty of water and rainfall in the UK, we just don't store it well. 

But you have to dam rivers to do that, habitat destruction etc.  Legal challenges etc.